Black Papermoon
by LuvliGrl
Summary: After leaving the Sand Village and her best friend behind, Kara is greeted by the Leaf with some strange people. One of those being Neji Hyuuga who believes destiny is everything and the exact opposite of what she wants. Will she be able to give him a change of heart with his decision?
1. Chapter 1

The Inobe clan. A clan famous for finding the fears of others and using them against each them in battle. They dominate the Intelligence Corps and Detention Corps with their abilities. But only those on the inside know the after effects. The curse of the clan is that madness drives them insane and one by one they die. It's an unavoidable curse.

Kara Inobe, seventh generation member of the Inobe clan, has self-proclaimed herself as the child to break the curse. With her waist length black hair and piercing emerald eyes, the female has decided to anything and everything to change the fate and destiny of her clan.

After leaving the Sand Village and her best friend behind, Kara is greeted by the Leaf with some strange people. One of those being Neji Hyuuga who believes destiny is everything and the exact opposite of what she wants. Will she be able to give him a change of heart with his decision?


	2. Chapter 2

Singing, I stared at my reflection in the mirror. "I'm falling, down into my shadow, I'm holding my breath..."

"Get out the bathroom Kara! Other people need to get out the house too!" My oldest brother, Ichirou, yells at me through the door. I have two brothers actually. Sighing, I stopped for a moment and finished washing my face.

"Hurry up!" Kei says. There's the other brother. Kei are older than me by two years, Ichirou by three. They're good people, but they seriously get on my nerves. Is it something with being the baby that everyone has to pick on me?

"Wake me up inside. Wake me up inside. Call my name and save me from the dark," I start singing a different song.

Ichirou bangs on the door and I groaned, stopping my singing again.

"Kara!"

Brushing my hair once more, I decided to leave it out, stuffing a hair tie in my pocket before opening the door. It wasn't actually on purpose that I hit Ichirou in the face with it, but I kind of wish it was. Just seeing his face, fuming with anger, was enough to make my day already.

Kei blinked before flashing me a smile, snickering at Ichirou's actions.. "Good morning, cupcake."

"Breakfast Kara!" Dad calls. Walking downstairs, I stared at him for a moment before picking up a piece of toast off my plate and waving him off, stepping outside.

"Kara? You can't ignore me forever. I am your dad," Dad told me.

I slammed the door, not too hard, but enough to know what I wasn't going to care about his feelings at this point in time. I hated my father. I know, hate is a strong word, but so is love. Love is not a feeling we share with each other. I don't know his reason why, but mine is definitely clear. He drove my mother away with his antics. So, as a result, I also blamed him for her death. If he hadn't driven her away, she wouldn't have left my brothers and I with him, which meant she wouldn't have driven herself crazy over the thought of it and killed herself.

Why blame him though, right? He wasn't directly involved. She did it to herself. Well that's wrong too. The night, around ten, when she killed herself, my father was there. They were talking and she pulled out a knife, right in front of Ichirou, Kei, and I. Ichirou tried to pull me out of the kitchen and to my room with Kei's help, but the most they could do was pull me to the stairs. Being five, you're very curious about what's going on around you. She told my father he was missing someone very important, and with that, she slit her throat and fell onto the kitchen floor, bleeding out everywhere.

The sight caused me to puke up every content of the pancakes and bacon I had had for breakfast. Ichirou quickly picked me up and pulled me to the bathroom so he and Kei could clean me up. It pained them to see me this way, but I wasn't thinking of anything at that point. They cleaned me up and put me in bed, one of them laying on each side of me. Before I fell asleep last night, the only two things that processed in my mind were that my mother, the woman that gave birth to me and treated me like her princess, was gone and my father stood there and watched it all go down.

Since hate is a strong word and I can't truly believe that I hate my family. Let me change that then. I strongly dislike my family. We are favored among most people in our neighborhood. It's not being fake, because it's true that we are genuinely more friendly to people on the outside than inside our own roots.

Madness is a disease passed through my family from generation to generation. Our jutsus are based collecting fears of enemies and using them against opponents for our benefit. Although we can use it on the battlefield, our most notable place would be in detention centers and torture chambers for the intelligence and discipline corps. But if we use it too much, our bodies backfire from strain and we go crazy, usually ending in death after a certain period of time. It's usually sustained by how long you can fight back mentally.

"Good morning Kara." The words pulled me out of my thoughts and I turned back behind myself to see Konkuro and Temari. Temari waved at me smiling as Konkuro shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Hi Temari! Hey Konkuro!" I smiled and waved back. Konkuro and Temari have known me since birth. My mother was the Kazekage's supervisor before her suicide. When I was too young to be in the Academy, Temari and Konkuro would sometimes stay home from school to play with me when my brothers were off with my father.

"Yo." Konkuro murmured. I tilted my head as I looked around them.

"Where's Gaara?"

"I don't know. He doesn't talk much, you know." Konkuro shrugs. I sighed and waved good bye before continuing on down the pathway.

People could say Gaara and I were best friends. We walk to school together every day, minus today, since we're the only two kids that live on this side of the Academy.

When I first met Gaara, he refused to acknowledge my existence. After pestering him a bit, it developed to saying hi every now and then, but still avoiding eye contact. Then I guess I was bothering him a little too much because he tried to hurt me one day. It was my fault though because he was releasing his anger and I jumped in the way. We finally made a mutual friendship after I was released from the hospital. He came to the hospital to give me flowers and although I found it that his father forced him to, I still accepted them with a smile. I tried my best to make conversations and jokes. One day, his walls finally came down and he accepted me as someone he could trust, or at least I hope he did. Either way, he finally talked and that was more than enough for me.

As the bell rung, I slipped into the classroom and slid into a seat in the back of the class. I had made it on time barely, once again. Sensei raised an eyebrow at me, but didn't say a word as he started attendance. Gaara came in about ten minutes late and sat down in his seat towards the middle of the classroom. He turned back to look at me and I grinned. He sent me a small smile before turning back around.

"Today, I have an announcement before we start class." Sensei tapped on his desk and everyone stopped talking to look at him. Sensei doesn't usually have announcements, so when he does, it means something really good or bad has happened.

"Kara Inobe will be leaving our class today to transfer to the Leaf Ninja Academy. After class, please sends her thanks and good luck. She's moving tomorrow."

If this were a cartoon, my jaw would have dropped to the floor as it hung open in shock. Gaara's smile quickly turned into a frown. I knew exactly what his thoughts were. How could she not have told me? But right now, I was too shocked to even think about his feelings. I didn't even know about this in the first place and I'm the one being directly involved.

The whole rest of class, I couldn't pay attention to what the lecture was about. My thoughts were screaming over what the teacher was explaining. What the heck was I going to do? The moment school was over, Gaara nearly flew out the classroom as I was bombarded by classmates wishing me farewells. Squeezing through the crowd, I tried my best to keep up with my best friend. He kept walking, faster with each step and heading straight for his house. I knew he couldn't claim that I'd be chasing him down because we were literal neighbors, living right across the street from each other.

"Gaara! Gaara, wait!" I call. My eyes glanced over to the carriage in front of a house I recognized as my own. Gaara had stopped, staring at the carriage before his frown deepened and he turned to look at me.

"What should I wait for?"

"I didn't know this was going on. It's the first I've known about this." My eyes started to water and I furiously tried to wipe the tears away. The one thing my mother urged to me was that I wasn't a cry baby. "You've got to trust me!"

"Yeah, right." Gaara focused his heated glare at me as he clenched his fists.

"Kara, your bags have been packed. You may want to..." Kei walked outside. He paused in mid-sentence as he saw Gaara and I and turned on his heel, heading straight into the house.

"Gaara..." I plead.

"I think you have something to do." Gaara stepped inside his house and closed the door behind him. I replayed the scene about twenty times in my head before it finally clicked. Did this mean he didn't trust me anymore? Was our friendship over?

"Kara, let's go." Ichirou walked out, placing more bags inside the carriage. Instead of shoving him like I always do when I'm pissed off, I silently walked in the house, up into my room, and closed the door. The tears couldn't have seemed to fall out fast enough as I curled up on my now bare mattress and hid my face with my pillow.

After a while, I tried to pull myself together unsuccessfully and sniffled, wiping my eyes. I had gotten most of the tears out, but the moment my father stepped into the room, my mood worsened. He took one look at me and his lips formed into a slim line.

"Kara." He stepped towards me, but I scooted back into the corner on my bed.

"Go away. Haven't you heard of knocking?" I said coldly.

"I know you're upset." Dad tried again. This time I didn't let him finish his thoughts as I jumped up and snapped at him..

"You know I'm upset. You _know_ that I'm upset? You never told me that we were moving. You never even thought of the fact that due to your actions, my best and only friend I ever had now hates me!" I screamed at him. He took my arm and pulled me into a hug, holding me against him as he stroked my head.

"Princess. I'm just doing what I need to do to keep you and your brothers safe." Dad whispered.

"Let me go!" I slipped out of his grasp and pushed him away. "I will never be 'Princess' to you. The only person allowed to call me that is Mommy. Oh wait. She's dead." With that, I stomped out of my room and out of the house towards the carriage.

Dad walked out afterwards and got into the carriage, holding the reigns of the horses. "Is everyone ready?"

No one responded, but Dad just shrugged it off and continued on, the horses moving. As we left, the Sand Village got smaller and smaller and I stared out the back, in the back of my head, just wondering if Gaara would come running out to see me one last time. Give me one last hug. Send me one last smile. Say good bye. But he never did.


	3. Chapter 3

"Class, this is our new student, Kara Inobe. Please be nice." My new Sensei cleared his throat and the class stared at me as I stared right back at them. This class looked no different than the classmates I had at the Sand Village Academy. Faces filled with either excitement, determination, boredom, or utter despair.

I had woken up early this morning, to my distress, by my father. He cooked me breakfast, which I barely ate. When it was time for me to go to the Leaf Academy, he tried to walk me, but I ran away from him. The last thing I needed after being the newest person here was to have everyone's first impression of me as a child who still needs their parent's guidance.

"Kara?" Sensei called me. I turned my head to look at him and he nodded before I faced the class once more.

"My name is Kara Inobe."

It seemed like the class was waiting for me to say more, but I kept my mouth shut and began walking up the aisle to find a seat where I could sit down.

"Hi! I'm Naruto Uzumaki. Next Hokage." A boy held out his hand as I walked past him. I stopped for a moment, looking directly at him with cold eyes. He didn't seemed fazed by my glare as he grinned with innocent blue eyes gleaming.

"Naruto, leave her alone!" A girl with pink hair and a seemingly loud voice for her slim, short body hit Naruto in the back of his head. He cried out in pain and held his head as she turned her attention back to me with a pleasant smile. "Sorry about that knucklehead. I'm Sakura Haruno. Nice to meet you."

Forget what I said before. These people were nothing like the classmates I had at the Sand Academy. Back in my home village, everyone focused on their studies and very seldom did they have such outgoing personalities. Students didn't pay much attention to newcomers unless they were a force to be reckoned with. These people, however, were very friendly and had some interesting thoughts.

A person opened the classroom door slightly and called Sensei over. They talked for a moment before Sensei walked back to his desk and picked up a stack of papers.

"Break time will be early today. Stay in the classroom and I'll be right back." With that, the door closed and he disappeared.

"So, what's your name again?" A girl with long blond hair who sat behind Sakura and Naruto asked, tilting her head. "I'm Ino Yamanaka, the ruler of this classroom. I can make you and I can break you. Remember that."

Now that's a Sand Village personality that I remember.

I stared at her for a few minutes before frowning and continuing to walk past them. I couldn't help but sneak a glance at the boy with the spiky hair sitting on the other side of Sakura. He didn't seem interested in me, which gave me a little relief. I now know everyone here doesn't have loud personalities.

"M-My name is Hinata Hyuga. I-It's nice to m-meet you." A girl offers her hand out and I paused again to look at her. She seemed different than the others. Her hair was navy blue and cut short, unlike all the other girls in this class with long, waist length hair like mine. Her pale eyes were gentle and she had a small blush as she smiled shyly at me.

"Nice to meet you too." I smiled, shaking her hand. This girl, Hinata… She seemed like she'd be a good friend for me. She was quite quiet which made me feel a little more comfortable with her versus everyone else.

Ino scoffed and flicked her bang from her eyes. "You reject my invitation but accept Hinata's? You're a weird girl. Do you not realize what I had offered you?"

"You're too bossy." I looked at her, cocking my head to the side and frowning. "I admire your overpowering self-confidence, but you sound like an ass."

Sakura giggled, when I really didn't see what was so funny. "Wow Ino. I'm surprised that didn't come from me. Great minds must think alike."

"Shut it, Billboard Brow." Ino retorted.

"Pig!"

"Yo, new girl! I'm Kiba." A boy with red marks running down his cheeks gave me a thumbs up. He had a small dog sticking out of the front of his jacket and I had to admit, if I ever had a soft spot, it would be for that puppy.

I walked over to him and held out my hand to the puppy. "Hello Kiba. Cute dog. What's his name?"

"Akamaru."

"I'm surprised. The puppy smells better than you." I rubbed the top of Akamaru's head.

Kiba stared at me with a confusing look on his face. It was mixed with shock, anger, and possibly a hint of humor., "I'm not a freaking mutt. I am human too, you know."

"I'm going home. This is stupid." I glance back to see the boy I was looking at before. At this point, I could finally see his full features. He had pale skin, like he'd been hiding from the sun for some time. With that were onyx eyes that glanced past everyone as if he weren't looking at anyone. He was certainly charming with looks, but his demeanor definitely felt like he'd be a little hard to approach.

"We can walk home together Sasuke!" Sakura smiles. Sasuke? Did that mean he was the Sasuke Uchiha? The one whom news spread wildly that he was the last Uchiha after his elder brother massacred the entire clan for a purpose I'd probably never understand.

"No thanks." Sasuke opens the door.

"Self-absorbed." I blurted out before covering my mouth. Sasuke turned back to look at me and I felt my cheeks heat up quickly as the class stared at me in shock. In my mind, I figured I might as well finish what I started. Dropping my hands to my side, I fully faced Sasuke. "You give off this attitude that clearly states to back the hell off and that you're better than all of us combined, but on the inside, you're a little insecure boy screaming for help."

My head started to throb a little as I stopped using my family's curse to look inside his head. Ignoring the slight pain, I watched as Sasuke's fists curled up.

"You know nothing about me. You may be new, but that gives you no special treatment." Sasuke turned around and looked me dead in the eyes. Never had I seen a death glare as intense as that one before. It made me want to cower away and hide under one of the desks.

"Hey! Fight him. I wanna see what you can do." Naruto smiles. I looked at him in slight shock. Of course, I had brought this on myself and I should take full responsibility of my actions, but the way that Uchiha looked at me made me question if I was actually going to be alive in the next ten minutes.

"Oh. We're gonna get in trouble when he sees we aren't there..." A boy with spiky brown hair in a ponytail sighs, his hands behind his head as we all walked out the classroom and to the small yard behind the academy. "So troublesome."

I giggled a little at his laziness as another boy came up beside him, munching on chips from the bag in his hands. My attention switched over as I stepped into the middle of the yard across from Sasuke. Everyone else formed a small crowd around us.

"This is a one-on-one battle. No mercy. First to get pinned down wins," Sakura said, standing between us. She quickly moved out of the way and into the crowd. "Ready. Begin!"

Sasuke attacked first, charging at me. I side-stepped, moving out of the way and threw a hand back, trying to punch him in the cheek. He ducked under my arm and jumped back, throwing a few shuriken at me. I caught one and threw it back, deflecting one that was heading straight for my head.

I admit it. Hand to hand combat is not my strong suit. While I was distracted, Sasuke charged at me again. His foot kicked out and went under me, pushing against the back of me and causing me to fall to the ground. Before I could attempt to get up, he was on top of me, straddling my hips and holding my wrists above my head.

"You weren't even trying." Sasuke murmured as the sounds of the crowd got a little loud. He stared me down and I stared back, frowning.

"You did the same." I mumbled, yanking my wrists from his grasp and pushing him off of me. I felt the heated glares of the girls in my class all over my body. Apparently, being pinned down by an egotistical bastard was a good thing. "You can't hide from me. No one can."

"What did you say?" Sasuke glared at me, watching me closely. The look in his eyes was back. The dark eyes of pure hatred. Just like a new moon.

The sound of my name being called caused me to tear my glance away from Sasuke and towards the sound. My name came from the lips of no one other than Kei. He grinned and waved at me walking over.

"I'm coming." I growled and moved towards him, pushing my way through the crowd. The heated glares intensified tenfold as I walked over to Kei.

Ino grabbed my arm and pulled me back. "Who's that?"

"My older brother."

"Who knew you had such a hot brother?" Ino smiled at me. I pulled away from her and stood beside Kei. There were sparkles and hearts in the eyes of my female classmates, along with conflicted sights of girls trying to choose. Kei just stood their, oblivious to it all with a charming smile on his face.


	4. Chapter 4

"So, how was your first day of school?" Dad asked as I walked through the door. At that point in time, I wasn't even going to attempt to be pissed with him for anything. I was still hung up on the fact of Sasuke beating me in a fight neither of us were putting much effort into. Dad called my name, but I didn't say anything as I sat down at the kitchen table and slumped in my seat.

Kei walked in after me and pet the top of my head, grinning. "Cheer up, kiddo. We haven't died yet."

"We're going to some day."

Kei frowned and sighed, sitting across from me at the table. I looked up at him and quickly apologizing, knowing I had gone too far. He gave me a half-hearted smile and looked away, watching the door open and Ichirou walk in.

"What's for dinner?" Ichirou tilted his head, closing the door behind him. No "hello". No "good evening". Not even a "how are you?". I should've known. Boys only go by their stomachs, I swear.

I looked up at him. "Beef ramen. Kei, you make it."

"But I've already made some barbequed pork." Dad frowned, motioning to the food on the stove. I took a look at it and I admit, just looking at it was fairly appetizing. While my stomach longed for a taste of it, my mind was focused on everything that had gone on so far. I had moved over village borders yesterday and the first thing I did when I arrived here was go to Ninja Academy. The only thing I wanted made was my comfort food - ramen.

"Beef ramen?" Ichirou raised an eyebrow, eyeing Dad before looking back at me. Kei tilted his head and glanced at me, wondering if I really was okay.

"I want ramen. Nothing else." I mumbled, staring down at my hands. "Kei's the only one who makes it like Mom used to."

"But I have food already!"

Standing up, I watched Kei's face twist in confusion as he tried to figured out what to do. Of course, he would make the ramen for me, but with Dad, there's no telling what he'd do. Sighing, I turned away.

"Hold it right there!" Dad said as I started to walk towards the cabinets If Kei wasn't going to fix me the food than I'd just do it myself. I know how to cook my own food when I need to.

"I should listen to you why?" I said as I opened it to look if there were any instant ramen cups I could use. "Why don't you just eat your food and I'll eat mine? Take your meds while you're at it."

"We are going to eat the meal I have made together as a family whether you like me or not," Dad stared at me coldly.

"What are you going to do? Kill me? I'm already going to kill myself, so why not let me take care of it," I glared at him.

As I turned around, I could tell that I had pushed him over the edge once again. But this time was too much. He lunged for me and grabbed my shirt, holding me up against the wall by the collar. Never had my father actually gotten physical with me, so surely I had to think if this was really happening or not. I squeezed my eyes shut and held my hands in front of my face, in fear that he might actually hit me.

"Dad!" Kei jumps out of his seat.

"I've had it with you and your smart mouth Kara!" Dad yelled at me. I could feel him pull back like he was about to hit me, but something else happened and when I opened my eyes again, Ichirou was restraining Dad until he released my shirt for his grasp and calmed down.

"Kara. Let's eat, okay?" Kei offered me his hand, but I only smacked it away, furious at his actions. Had he not seen what had just happened before? And now he thinks I'm going to sit down, ignore it, and eat? Running up to my room, I quickly shut the door and plopped ungracefully onto my bed.

"I'm never gonna eat with that psycho! I wish he'd die already!"

"Kara! You don't mean that!" Kei yelled at me and I heard his footsteps coming up the stairs. Ignoring it, I buried my head into my pillow. The knocking on the door finally stopped and I heard him going downstairs.

Sighing in frustration, I sat up on my bed and looked out my bedroom window. Everything still confused me - this stupid curse and Mother killing herself. What did she mean by my father was missing something? Sometimes I'd have flashbacks from that night, remembering her slit her throat and it made me nearly throw up at the thought of it. I don't like my father for watching her do it, but maybe it was a little harsh that I told him I wanted him to die. I don't need to lose another parent like I lost Mom.

Coming downstairs, I walked through the kitchen, sparing everyone a glance before heading outside the door. No words were said and I was grateful. Anything would've came out my mouth if someone had said something.

My feet took me to somewhere I hadn't been before. A sign to my right notified me that I was at the Leaf Training Grounds. Tilting my head, I decided to find out what their training grounds looked like. As I looked around, I figured this was a nice place. It was basically a forest with a few clearings and some lakes. Anything you could learn for the most part could be practiced here.

I came across a statue that was shaped similar to a kunai with a base under it. Curious, I walked around it and kneeled down to see that there were actual name written along it. A lot of names to be exact. Running my hands along it, I sat down behind the statue, leaning against it.

Somehow, I had fallen asleep, tired from everything that had happened today. It was dark, like almost pitch black as I sat in my dream. As I had gotten used to the darkness, a bright light shined and I covered my eyes to keep from becoming blind. Suddenly, a scream came out of nowhere and I covered my ears. The scream continued before more piled on and I stood up, trying to run away.

There was a door that popped up, wooden - like a door inside my house. Deeming it to be an exit, I ran towards it. Although I was running, the door seemed to be at a standing-still - I was at a standing-still. When I looked around, suddenly the inside of my head looked like the kitchen in my house and I stopped moving, in shock.

My mother was standing behind me, grinning as she greeted me. Before I could reach out to touch her, she pulled a knife from behind her back and slit her throat in front of my eyes. Screaming, I ran away to the door and tried to pull it open, but it was locked - jammed even.

"Let me out! Let me out, please!" I screamed, as I yanked on the door. A liquid oozed down until the entire door was covered and I looked at my hand so see them also covered in the liquid, which was blood. Screaming again, I was hysterical.

Jumping up, I was now fully awake, looking back at the real world. My breathing was uneven as I tried to catch it and tears were streaming down my cheeks. Wiping my eyes, I willed the tears away and looked up at the sky, noticing it was nearly dawn and stars were starting to disappear from the sky to give light to the sun.

"I'm falling, down into my shadow. Grasping onto every breath, as I await the deadly night. So scary, but you can't give into this. Fear of pumpkin carriages, cause all the witches, see it in your eyes. See you in your dreams, yeah, baby. Your nightmares too, that's where I'll find you. " I sing. I start singing the lyrics to my song and finally get to the chorus. "Fairy blue, it is only for you. That I would crush the stars, and put them on display. Black papermoon. If you really put your faith in me, when you're lost, here I am. Forever with your soul. Waiting here above you patiently, just like the shining moon."

This song - my mother would sing it to me like a lullaby every night before I went to sleep. I've noticed it over the years of how this song seemed to fit my life like pieces of a puzzle. The whole first part talked of the madness that my family carried and the second part of what my mother was doing for me. She told me anytime I needed her, she'd be there to help me. As I watched the moon fade away and the sun coming up from behind the trees, I wondered when my mother actually wanted me up there with her.


End file.
